Wonderland
by m1ss-Cheshire Cat
Summary: After falling unconscious in the TARDIS the Doctor wakes to find himself in a strange world, where nothing is as it seems.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello fellow whovians- this is my re-edited version of the story!**

**There's gonna be more chapters, so the title will become clear.**

**Anywayz, please leave a review and tell me what you think!**

The TARDIS suddenly lurched violently again, throwing the Doctor off his feet. He frantically scrambled towards the controls, then proceeded to press everybutton in sight, his hands whizzing over the panels. The TARDIS let out an eerie groan and the control room shook again. " what's happing to you, eh?" the Doctor murmered after re-gaining his footing once again. Abruptly, all was silent; the room stopped shuddering and the terrible grinding sounds had stopped. The Doctor hesitantly stepped back from the the control pannel, his eyes scanning for any damage. He barely even had chance to register what was happening as all at once the TARDIS flung him straight into the huge metal struts decorating the side of the room. He felt a searing pain in his head, before the world swirled into darkness.

"Darling, don't be frightened- the doctors are well trained, and they've done this many times before!" Maria gazed up into her mother's eyes. They appeared to be concerned and caring, but Maria could see the oddly flat quality to her mothers expression- she was only acting. Beneath the thin layer of apparent interest for her daughters health, there was nothing... no emotion at all.

"I don't want to have the operation." Maria mumbled under her breath, knowing it was hopeless.

Her mother bit her lip. "I know your scared sweetie, but you have to be brave. After all, you're a big girl now!" She tried to smile encouragingly, but it looked more to Maria like the smile on a porcelain doll. "You need this operation. If you don't have it, you will get more and more poorly, sweetheart, and I don't want that to happen."

Maria stared into her mother's face. To the casual observer it seemed like she was heart broken over her daughter's illness. But Maria knew the truth. Beneath the affectionate mask lay an ocean of wasn't that her mother disliked her, she just...didn't care. Her mother was a famous actor, and had no time for petty mundane matters, like her daughter. Maria always noticed that she never referred to herself as her mother- when talking to her or to reporters and chat show hosts. She never really spent much time with her either- only a few visits out for a publicity stunt, or the rare occasion she felt guilty for neglecting her. Her mother certainly appeared fond of her in order to charm the papparatzi, but underneath the lies and false affections there was nothing. She just wasn't interested in her daughter.

Maria sighed resignedly, and tears welled up in her eyes. She looked pleadingly at her mother, who smiled encouragingly then looked up at the doctors.

"If she's okay with having the operation, then we can head over to theatre right now" The doctors glanced at Maria. She gazed back, and hesitantly nodded her head.

"Excellent" The doctor bared his teeth, then handed Maria the ridiculous paper gown that hospitals were famous for. She looked at it with distaste. To her, it screamed sterile rooms, illness and needles. She quickly changed, then followed the doctors to theatre. She grimaced as the needle slid into the back of her hand. "We're giving you the anaesthetic now. You'll feel a bit dizzy for a few seconds, but then the anaesthetic will kick in, and you'll be asleep"

Maria didn't hear the doctor's words. She was looking at her mother, who was walking back along the ward with her phone to her ear. None of the doctors noticed the tear that slid down Maria's cheeks as she slowly drifted into unconsciousness.

**Done. Thoughts? Reviews gain you my eternal gratitude. Also i know it's short; my attention span and amount of free time isn't currently allowing for long chapters. Ciao! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter. Hopefully better than the first- it's longer, at least. Thoughts on its awfullness are welcome. :) on with the story!**

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Consciousness was a long time in coming to the Doctor. Finally, he blearily opened his eyes. To his surprise, he found himself not on the TARDIS floor, but on top of a grassy hill. At the bottom of the hill was a thick, green forest. He groaned when he felt his head throb from where it had hit the metal strut. He slowly sat up and waited a while for his head to clear. Once the throbbing had abated to a dull ache, he stretched, and heaved himself to his feet. He walked down the hill and began to explore, thinking that whatever it was would come back to him later.

The more he saw of the new world, the more he became intrigued. It had similar attributes to earth; the same gravity and the same air, but the environment was like nothing he'd ever saw. The sky was a brilliant green colour, complete with beautiful gold clouds edged with black. It was lit by a huge, bright light that made your eyes ache if you even looked up. As far as the Doctor could tell, the light wasn't a star.

The greenery was different too. Beautiful flowers with brightly coloured petals grew daintily beneath towering trees laden with exotic fruit. Wrapped around the limbs of these trees were creepers, with indigo veins running through them. The Doctor had never seen any of the plants before. He laughed in astonishment as a giant dragonfly-like-creature fluttered in front of him, its wings flashing a deep metallic green.

It was such a peaceful place, and everything within it proclaimed a sense of well being. He found himself smiling as he wondered through the forest. His headache had subsided, giving him only occasional pangs of discomfort.

After a while he came to a small clearing. In the centre was a tree, its sweeping branches casting a shadow over a small pond. He wondered over and stood, staring at his reflection . Suddenly ripples exploded, distorting his image as something fell into the water. He looked up, startled. Sitting in one of the branches was a creature. It was similar to a cat, with a lean body, and long, tapering tail, but it also resembled a monkey, with a cheeky little face and twinkling green eyes. It was covered from head to tail with long, flame red fur. It chattered at him happily before it jumped away and vanished into the trees. The Doctor looked down to see what it had dropped. His eyes widened in suprise when he saw that it was a oval shaped locket, made out of rose gold and decorated by an intricate image of wings, edged with lapis was clearly an antique, and by the looks of it very valuable. It was sealed firmly shut, resisting the Doctor's attempts to open it. He gave up, placing it in his pocket. Standing up he looked around curiously- "_where had the monkey gotten it from?"_

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The doctors surged round Maria's body like ants, frantically attempting to place various monitors on her and control her breathing. The heart monitor beeped frantically, flashing red, indicating her heart had stopped. The surgeons quickly swarmed back as one came forward with the defibrilators. Her body arched as the electric shock pulsed through her system. The heart monitor continued to beep frantically- nothing. Increasing the voltage, they tried again, and were rewarded with a steady beep...beep...beep. The operation had appeared to go well- two of the tumors in her brain had been removed without incdent, although they were unlike any the Doctors had seen before. It was as they moved onto the third that the trouble started. Her brain activity had suddenly stopped, followed closely by her heart and lungs. As her respiritory and cardio systems started again, the surgeons continued their work. It showed no signs of life. Three hours later, the oporation was finally finished. It was after several attempts to wake her from the anasthetic that they realised she had slipped into a coma.

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**Bit gruesome, i know, but it was necessairy to the plot line :) Things will begin to make sense soon, i promise. **


	3. Chapter 3

**The third chapter has taken sssssssooooooo long to finish, sorry for the wait!**

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The doctor sighed wearily, and slumped to a heap on the floor. He'd been searching for hours, but could still find no sign of the TARDIS, or any other inhabitants. He groaned, and lay back on the grass. The sky was now a dusky purple colour, and the trees' shadows loomed up behind him now that the strange light in the sky was nearing the horizon. As far as he could tell, he was alone on this planet, and no TARDIS he was stuck here. The Doctor jerked, mentally shaking himself. He couldn't give up hope yet; he'd only seen a fraction of the planet! He closed his eyes, and tried to remember what had happened in the TARDIS, seeing if there were any clues as to why he was now on this strange world. He just had to think...

He bolted upright suddenly, looking around. A high pitch laugh accompanied by clicking sounds shattered the silence. The Doctor stood up, jumping again at the sound of a woman talking. The voice seemed to be coming from forest path between two trees. The doctor started towards it, puzzled. He was sure the path hadn't been there a few moments ago. He shrugged and began walking, listening intently to what the woman was saying.

He shivered when he entered the trees shadows. The path was longer than it had first appeared from the meadow, and snaked in all directions. The doctor continued walking along it, listening to the voice grow steadily louder. The path veered off sharply left, and the Doctor emerged in a clearing. He stopped and stared. "Well, this is certainly different..." he murmured to himself.

A shimmering wall was floating in the centre of the clearing. It was roughly spherical, and colours were swirling across it. It made the Doctors eyes hurt if he looked at it for too long, and he felt as if it was coming from another dimension. The voice and clicking sounds were louder than ever, and the Doctor realized that they were coming from inside the wall. He began to walk slowly towards it, pulling his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. The wall glowed green as the screwdriver hummed. The Doctor stared incredulously at the reading. According to the screwdriver, the wall didn't exist at all. He pointed it at the wall again. Suddenly, the colours swirling across the wall began to form a picture. The Doctor stared in amazement as a woman came into focus, surrounded by camera's and news reporters. It was like he was watching another world. He slowly sat down, staring at the scene on the wall.

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**What did ya think? Ridiculously short, i know, but i'm not very good at long chapters :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ooohhh, major plot development chapter! Not to mention the longest one yet. Sorry again the last one was so short, but I wanted to leave it at a cliff hanger... Anywayz, hope you enjoy this chapter (and the last one), please leave a review! On with the show!**

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Through the wall, the Doctor could see a stunningly beautiful woman was standing outside a courtroom, her perfectly white teeth flashing at the crowds of reporters surrounding her. Cowering at her side was a young girl, no older than six. She looked startled at the sight of the flashing cameras and microphones. Suddenly, a woman wearing a lurid red blouse and short black skirt pushed her way through, and shoved a microphone in front of the girl's face.

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"Hello, I'm Suzan Kenley, reporting for Vogue. How do you feel about the divorce of your parents?" the reporter had a nasally, monotonous voice. The girl shank back from the microphone, terrified. The reporter stuck the microphone out again, oblivious to the girls discomfort. "Well?" she asked "what are your views on your parents' divorce?"

The woman, who the Doctor now realized was the girl's mother, noticed the reporter, and grabbed the mike off of her. "She is understandably upset that David and I have separated, but understands that it was for the best" the woman simpered to the reporters. She gave her daughter an annoyed look, then turned back to the reporter "However, it has been a long and tiring ordeal, so you must excuse me for insisting that you stop questioning her!" the woman gave a high false laugh, flinging the mike back to the reporter. Pushing her daughter off towards a fleet of limos, she called "I'll be along in a minute sweetie, just go and wait in the car" She smiled then turned back to the reporters. They all converged on her, the cameras flashing wilder than before. The woman cleared her throat "The trial has been a long and eventful process, and it was a very difficult decision on my behalf to divorce my husband. However, the cracks in our relationship had become to great to ignore, and we both agreed it was for the best" she sighed dramatically, and covered her dark brown eyes with a perfectly manicured hand. "You must excuse me; it is still a delicate subject for me to talk about." The reporters stood back as she followed her daughter towards the limos. One man tried to ask her more questions. The woman's brown eyes flashed dangerously, and her scarlet covered lips tightened. The man flinched and lowered his camera, taking the hint. The woman had now reached the limo. Throwing open the door, she gracefully settled . The door closed, and the car smoothly pulled away.

Inside the car, the woman pulled her lipstick out her bag and carefully re-applied it. She then snapped at her daughter "Why did you just stand their gaping like a fish? You shouldv'e just said you didn't want to answer any questions. It's embarassing taking you anywhere, you constantly make me look like a bad mother." Throughout her monologue, she hadn't once looked was like she wasn't that intersted, more focused instead on her appearance. "I've told you enough times how to deal with publicity- either smile and answer their questions or walk straight to the car. Don't just stand there like you've forgotten how to speak" She finished her little speech by casting her daughter a dissapointed look, before taking her phone out of her bag. " i have to go to Chicago tommorow; they're shooting a couple of scenes there. You'll be alright with Sarah, won't you?" without even bothering to hear her reply, she picked up her phone and began chatting to the person on the other end- her manager, probably. "Yes mother" the girl whispered quietly, turning her head to stare sadly out the window.

* * *

The Doctor exhaled noisily. The wall darkened, and began to fluctuate. He stared at it, eyes centimetres from its writhing surface. Suddenly the wall stretched, and then snapped back into itself, vanishing. The silence was complete. The Doctor backed away, puzzling over what it had shown him. Sauntering back along the shady path, he was surprised to find that when he re-emerged from the trees shadowy depths, the sky was already light again. He walked around the meadow, trying to think of possible reasons why the wall had appeared, and why it had shown him the random scenes of the woman and her daughter. He stopped, the back of his neck prickling. His senses were warning him that someone was watching. He turned, eyes scanning the trees for any sign of his follower. The leaves rustled to the left, and the Doctor's head snapped toward the sound. He caught a glimpse of something vanishing into the undergrowth. He sprinted towards it, trying to figure out where it had gone. Ahead he could hear twigs snapping. What ever he was chasing was running too. Suddenly, everything was quiet. The Doctor stood still, his hearts pounding. Apart from his gasping breaths, nothing disturbed the forest. He turned back towards the meadow, and then whipped around as something appeard between the trees. What he saw took him by surprise. A young girl was standing there, staring up at the Doctor with wide, frightened eyes.

The Doctor had a feeling that he'd seen her somewhere before, but he couldn't think where. She was rather short for her age, which the doctor guessed was about ten, and she was very slender. Her eyes, a peculiar shade of violet, locked with his. "Who are you? How did you get here?" she asked, her soft voice trembling.

"I'm the Doctor" the Doctor replied smiled encouragingly. "And i'm not sure, i was in my ship, then woke up to find myself here. What's your name?" he crouched down until his eyes were level with hers.

"Maria. Do you know where we are?" She began to relax slightly, realising the Doctor wasn't an enemy.

The Doctor sighed "I was going to ask you the same thing. I guess your'e not an inhabitant then, so what happened to you?"

"I woke up here two nights ago. The last thing I remember was going to sleep next to the theatre, then suddenly i was standing in a massive field" She told him. Her lips began to tremble, and her eyes filled with tears "How am i going to get home?"

The Doctor hugged her. "My ship, the one i came on, will be able to take you home. We just need to find it first, and it'd be best if we stick together; we don't know what could be on this planet. Have you seen my ship by the way, it's a bit unusual-"

"-is it a big blue box?" Maria interrupted, and then stopped, looking puzzled. The doctor stared at her.

"Have you seen it then?" he asked eagerly.

"No, well...maybe, I, I don't know..." Sophia looked confused.

"How can you know what it looks like if you've not seen it?" The Doctor asked quizzically.

"I don't know, it's like an image... and words... they just appeared in my head. I don't know how."

The Doctor sighed, deciding not to question her about it further. They began walking through the forest together.

"So where exactly did you wake up here then?" He asked her.

"A few miles away, in a field near a huge rocky pass. I'd walked for about three hours before I came to this forest" she replied.

"Did you see what was down the pass?" the Doctor looked at her.

"I didn't go down it. It felt strange... like something bad. I felt scared when was near it, so I went in the opposite direction."

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The Doctor nodded absently, and they continued through the forest in silence. Gradually, the trees began to space out, and the ground was dotted with clumps of grass. Although he didn't mention it to Maria, the Doctor was growing more and more concerned. He'd searched around for hours yesterday, and there hadn't been any sign of the edges of the forest. They'd only been walking for about an hour, and he felt certain that they shouldn't be any signs of the trees thinning out for at least a good few hours, otherwise he would have been out of the forest hours ago. Now that he thought about it, he realized that lots of things had been changing. The pool where he'd picked up the locked had moved, as he'd come across it twice yesterday. He'd presumed he'd gotten lost and had gone in the opposite direction, but now he realized... not just the pond, but the path to the wall had appeared out of nowhere too. Clearly there was more to this world than he had first thought.

The Doctor had been too deep in thought to realize that the ground had been steadily sloping up. They were fully out of the forest now, and standing on top of a hill that was covered with lush grass.

"There's the pass" Maria panted, gesturing to a dark cliff face in the distance. The doctor snapped out of reverie and looked in the direction she was pointing.

"Are you alright?" he asked concernedly. Maria didn't look well, her skin was even paler than when he'd first seen her and she was trembling slightly. Her forehead had a slight sheen to it and was creased in pain.

"I'm fine" she replied, attempting a smile "I've never walked this far before"

The Doctor looked at her calculatingly. "Okay. It's getting dark, I think we should stop here for tonight" The Doctor looked up at the fading sky. The days here were shorter that on Earth, only about sixteen hours. He figured the day was split up roughly into about eight hours of daylight then eight hours of darkness. Maria nodded in agreement, and lay down on the grass. She was asleep within minutes. Asleep, she looked even more vulnerable than before, her eyes flickering rapidly beneath closed lids. He sat down a slight distance away from her, and watched the last of the light fade from the horizon.

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**Verrrrrryyy long chapter over :). I'm gathering you all know who Maria is- but how did she get there? you wonder. Well, you'll just have to wait and find out! :)( Hint- the plots similar to a film leonardo dicaprio starred in... that probably doesn't help. It'll become clear eventually) **


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